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“You’ll never have Ali. She’s a fighter. She’ll claw your eyes out before she ever lets you touch her.”
I wouldn’t mind if she did.
Nik grinned at the thought. The idea of Ali going feral over him made his muscles weak.
“Oh, I didn’t tell you the best part. She’s going to want me. She’s going to choose me. She’s going to beg for me.”
Eli was about to put hands on Nik, but Nik grabbed him by the shoulders. “I wouldn’t, man. I can and will make your life hell.”
If looks could kill, Nik would’ve been dead. Eli let go of him and took a step back. Nik gave him a condescending tap on the shoulder and walked off, leaving Eli fuming.
He felt Ali’s eyes on him as he passed, but she looked down and shook her head. He didn’t think she could hear what had been said, but she obviously wasn’t impressed with their near-altercation.
That was okay. He was confident in his ability to win her over, and he had all the time in the world. He couldn’t explain his attraction to her. It made no sense. It couldn’t be her looks. Although she was gorgeous, there were plenty of beautiful women in Rysburg. And she was objectively inferior to him. She was a prisoner, for god’s sake. But even he had to admit he hadn’t been able to shake her from his mind. He was infatuated. Maybe if he just scratched the itch, he could forget about her.
They finished their work late that afternoon. They headed for the prison in the same manner they had left, Sam leading the way with Nik in the rear. Everyone was quiet and worn out from the day’s work. It made Nik happy to see that even Eli and Ali weren’t talking. It was only the first day and he’d already driven a wedge between them.
“I’ll take it from here,” Sam said as they reached the door to the prison.
Nik gave Ali one last glance, but she paid him no attention. “Yeah, I’ll be back later tonight.” He was working a double shift today but had been given a few hours to sleep before returning to the prison to keep watch overnight. “See you, Sam.”
Nik turned his back on the prison and Ali. For now.
Eli was thrilled the workday was finally over. He had been dreading it, but he never could’ve anticipated just how bad it would be. That guard, Nik, had it out for him, and his obsession with Ali made Eli sick. He was scared for her. That she might wind up being hurt by this guy, taken advantage of. But he was also scared for himself. That this guy might be right and might get everything he wanted. He seemed charming enough and good looking, too.
Would Ali fall for that shit? And why the fuck was he calling her “babe?”
Eli felt like he was missing part of the conversation. What had gone down between them in just a few short days?
He stripped out of his putrid clothes that reeked of sweat and horse shit before hopping in one of the shower stalls. He scrubbed as quickly as he could to remove the filth from his hands and arms, but the gross feeling all over his body wouldn’t be scrubbed away so easily.
Ali wasn’t speaking to him. He’d thrown some accusatory questions her way when they’d been left alone at lunch.
What was that? Who is he? Are you guys friends or something? You can’t be friends with the enemy, Ali.
He’d be lying if he said he didn’t feel betrayed. She’d told him nothing was going on and he was overreacting. That they had only spoken once or twice and he was reading too much into it. Her voice had been defensive, though. Like she was hiding something from him. He knew her well enough to know when she wasn’t being honest.
The water shut off automatically right at the fifteen-minute mark. Eli rubbed his wet head on a towel and wrapped it around his waist before grabbing his clean clothes from the counter. He didn’t wait for his body to dry completely before pulling them on and heading back to his cell.
Afterward, he sat on his bed, staring at the wall. Contemplating life.
He couldn’t live this way. He wouldn’t live this way.
How could he get out of this place before he lost his mind?
Think, Eli.
He knew one thing for certain: if he was in this prison, he’d never escape. He’d have to pay more attention to the greenhouses. Their route to and from them. What were the ways out of Rysburg? Where was the tunnel from which they’d entered? Were there escape routes from the greenhouses themselves? The one guard hardly paid him attention, which he could use to his advantage. Nik, however, couldn’t take his eyes off Ali. How would Eli get them both out if he was always watching?
It seemed so foolish to think that he could escape, but these cells provided no other form of entertainment than to daydream. The cold, hard stone surfaces taunted him and the iron bars mocked him. They knew he was locked in here for eternity, even if he was unwilling to admit it. He moved from the bed to the ground and did a few push-ups. His sore muscles protested, but his willpower was strong. Anything to take his mind off of Ali and their dismal fate here.
“Did we not work you hard enough?” His thoughts were interrupted by Sam, who watched with amusement as Eli finished his last push-up. He slipped a key into the lock of the cell door, and it creaked as it swung open. “It’s time for dinner.”
Eli followed him to the kitchen and grabbed a tray of unrecognizable reddish-brown mush. It was chilly in the courtyard but unusually sunny for this time of year. He found Ali sitting alone on a bench, her head hanging low. Guilt sank in for the things he had said earlier that day. He always hated it when they fought. She was his best friend, and he could never stay mad at her. Fighting with Ali was a punishment to himself.
“Hey.” He tapped her shoe with his foot.
She looked up but said nothing.
